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Newspaper Page Text
STORY ABOUT A WEDDING Papers full of domestic scan dals. Statisticians pouring forth awful figures about the increase of divorce. Theorists gloomily announcing the downfall of the American home. Children with from two to four sets of parents. Plenty of such things. But let's tell a story that's different. Fifty years ago, a young fel low named Eph Hastings mar ried a comely girl in the little town of Keokuk, la. Of $500,000 pearl necklace, tapestries, silver ware,, automobiles, banknotes and things like that they hadn't much, but they had courage and each other's hearts, and you may be sure that there's not much "wa ter" in that sort of stock when love's merger is successfully pro moted. Well, Eph, and his young wife turned their backs on Keokuk so ciety, and, with their little all of worldly goods, joined a mule train to cross the great plains -to the land where the setting sun paints glory on land and sea and in its rising from behind majes tic mountains makes praise of God spring from the heart of man. Then, for weeks and weeks the train crept across prairie and des ert, through the cold shadows of valleys that cleft the moutains, across streams too deep to wade. Water was scarce very often, too. Food sometimes ran low. And at night the wolves howled, while camp fires on distant hills made the women and children crowd close to the men who sat with loaded guns on their knees. Indians-butchered men, women and children of a train that was fol lowing them. Two days later came news that Indians had knifed, scalped, horribly tortured to the last human being a big train that was ahead of them. One evening, Buffalo Jim. no torious as the most bloodthirsty chief of all Indians, visited their camp. All the people of the train prayed that njght and Eph sat wifh one arm aroupd his bride and the other around his rifle, for Buffalo Jim meant horrible death. But something pleased Jiip and there was np massacre and so, through more hardships and ter rors the train wept creeping into the west, and it vas altogether such a honeymoon trip for Eph' and wife as few couples ever pass through. What a freak this thing named love is! Often it seems to refuse to live with people who have everything. Then, again, it for ever abides with, grows strong and everlasting with couples who have little, who go through hard ships, misery, terrors and even shame together and is, in joy and sorrow, in pleasure and pain, in success and defeat, up to nay, beyond the very doors of death the glory of glories of human life. But we mustn't leave Eph hon eymooning out back there in that mule train. We're going to lift him out of that mule train fifty years forward, fifty years of loy alty, struggle, triumph over the trials of life. At San Diego, last Christmas day, Mr. Eph Hastings